Sangria Summer surprises in Shady Daisy
At 0h04, on August 9, 2026 • By Ray Cotolo, The Meadowlands
Canadian invader Sangria Summer swooped onto the scene late from a prime stalking trip to foil hard-strung odds-on favorite Be Perfect BG and win the $123,200 Grade 3 Shady Daisy, for 3-year-old pacing fillies, in the final strides of a 1:48.1 mile on Saturday (Aug. 8) at the Meadowlands.
Leaving from post 7, driver James MacDonald pushed Sangria Summer forward and found a seat in third as Darlin’s Angel motored from the pylon post for the lead into a :26 first quarter. Be Perfect BG floated away fifth but decided to press forward up the rim and steadily marched to take the lead from Darlin’s Angel just before a :54.1 half. Car Keys edged out of third with a mild bid after the leader, tracked by Sangria Summer, while Be Perfect BG rolled through three-quarters in 1:21.4.
The long early brush by the favorite showed its toll in the stretch when Darlin’s Angel ripped from the pocket and narrowed on the leader with Sangria Summer gathering steam even wider. Darlin’s Angel hit the front briefly in late stretch, and then Sangria Summer slid by for a head win with Be Perfect BG left in third and Napalm another eight lengths behind in fourth.
“I know Serge Godin had bought her privately and they had high expectations of her,” James MacDonald said after the race, “and if you’ve been following her in Canada – a lot of people might not have seen her – her last few races have just been fabulous. So I knew she was coming in pretty sharp. I was hoping I could work out some kind of a trip, and I thought she’d give me a good run at the end.”
Luc Blais trains Sangria Summer, a daughter of Captaintreacherous-Shower Play, for Godin’s Determination, which purchased this filly after the first start of her sophomore season from Ontario-based trainer Kevin Benn. The filly collected her fourth win from 10 starts this season and her fifth win from 20 starts in her career, earning $228,159. She paid $10.80 to win.
